different between nutation vs nutate

English

Etymology

1610s, from Latin n?t?ti? (“nodding”), from n?t? (“I nod”). Compare mutation.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

nutation (countable and uncountable, plural nutations)

1. (physics) A bobbing motion that accompanies the precession of a spinning rigid body.
2. A nodding motion (of the head etc.).
3. (astronomy) Any of several irregularities in the precession of the equinoxes caused by varying torque applied to the Earth by the Sun and the Moon.
4. (botany) The circular motion of the tip of a growing shoot.

Derived terms

• circumnutation
• counternutation
• nutate

Translations

English

Etymology

Back-formation from nutation (1610s), from Latin n?t?ti? (“nodding”), from n?t? (“I nod”), from Proto-Indo-European *neu-. Compare mutate.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e?t

Verb

nutate (third-person singular simple present nutates, present participle nutating, simple past and past participle nutated)

1. (intransitive) To rock or sway involuntarily.
2. (intransitive, engineering) To wobble; to make a circular rocking motion.

References

Anagrams

• UNTAET, attune, tauten

Interlingua

Participle

nutate

1. past participle of nutar

Latin

Participle

n?t?te

1. vocative masculine singular of n?t?tus